My AP Top 25 ballot: 1. LSU

First off, here are the voter guidelines Associated Press gave its voters in its Top 25 college football poll:

Teams on NCAA probation ARE eligible for the AP poll.

Base your vote on performance, not reputation or preseason speculation.

Avoid regional bias, for or against. Your local team does not deserve any special handling when it comes to your ballot.

Pay attention to head-to-head results and don't hesitate to make significant changes in your ballot from week to week. There's no rule against jumping the 16th-ranked team over the eighth-ranked team, if No. 16 is coming off a big victory and No. 8 just lost 52-6 to a so-so team.

I'm trying to take these things to heart, especially the last one. There will be significant changes in my ballot from week to week because I'm trying to base my vote on performance, not reputation or preseason speculation.

All we have to go by after one week is one game. If a team played someone who has traditionally been strong, that resonates with me. If it opened with an FCS opponent, that does not. If, at a neutral site it defeated a team that played in the national-title game last season, then that team has done something more than beaten Indiana State or Northern Arizona. Or Tennessee Tech, for that matter.

1. LSU. Beat Oregon in Arlington, Texas (technically a neutral site) and looked pretty darn good in doing it, 40-27.

2. Boise State. Chewed up Georgia in Georgia.

3. Oklahoma. Routed a Tulsa team that won 10 games a season ago.

4. Alabama. Mugged Kent State, 48-7. 'Bama goes to Penn State this week to restate its case for No. 1 as far as I'm concerned.

5. South Florida. Here's where the hate mail starts pouring in. Too bad. Who besides LSU or Boise State left home and got a better win than USF did with its 23-20 conquering of Notre Dame?

6. Baylor. You know, I know, and Baylor knows it isn't the sixth-best team in America. But it beat the TCU team that was No. 2 in the final rankings last season in a classic, 50-48. Quarterback Robert Griffin III was sensational.

7. Florida State. Beat Louisiana-Monroe, 34-0, never let ULM get past the FSU 28-yard line.

8. Wisconsin. Hammered UNLV, 51-17, and Bret Bielema may have actually called off the dogs for a change.

9. Texas A&M. Averaged seven yards per play in routing SMU, 46-14. SMU went to a bowl last year. There may be too many bowls.

10. Stanford. Punished San Jose State, 57-3. San Jose State is not good, but the Cardinal has the eye of the Tiger.

11. Oklahoma State. Its 61-34 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette (LSU is better than La.-Monroe or La.-Lafayette) wasn't as close as the score might indicate.

12. South Carolina. Struggled, but came on strong for a 56-37 neutral-field win over East Carolina, which has been to bowls the last five seasons.

13. Ohio State. It was Akron, a 1-11 MAC team in '10. But it was 42-0, the first non-ugly thing associated with Buckeye football all year.

14. Northwestern. The underdog Wildcats, using No. 2 quarterback Kain Colter because Dan Persa wasn't cleared to play, beat Boston College on the road, 24-17. BC has been to bowls the last 12 seasons. Good win, 'Cats.

15. Mississippi State. Vick Ballard of Pascagoula ran wild for the Bulldogs in their 59-14 mauling of Memphis in Memphis.

16. Virginia Tech. Played an FCS team. But it was one of the best, Appalachian State. The score was 66-13, Hokies. And I already regret sending my ballot before typing this, because I'm pretty sure Appalachian State could handle Memphis. Luckily, this is just Week 1. Luckily, this stuff always sorts itself out by December. Luckily, the good people of Virginia Tech are understanding.

17. Nebraska. Beat FCS Chattanooga, 40-7. Not to worry, Huskers. You'll have more than enough chances to win your way to the top of the rankings. Just not in September (Fresno State, Washington, at Wyoming are next).

18. Arkansas. Defeated FCS Missouri State, 51-7.  Missouri State starting quarterback Trevor Wooden was suspended for the game by coach Terry Allen for violating team rules. So the Razorbacks didn't get the complete Missouri State experience.

19. Maryland. It would easy not to rank the Terrapins at all for wearing those uniforms and helmets Monday night. Even though Miami is no longer Miami (or is it?), getting a 32-24 win over the Hurricanes to start the year is good stuff.

20. West Virginia. Downed Marshall 34-13 in a game halted by lightning with 14:36 left. The “Mountaineer Mantrip” was unveiled. The West Virginia team walks 300 yards through a sea (it's always a sea) of their fans into the stadium two hours before kickoff. It was the idea of new coach Dana Holgorsen, as a salute to the state's coal background. The players ended the walk by touching a chunk of coal from Whitesville, where 29 miners lost their lives in an April 2010 accident.

21. TCU. Its defense was rotten for most of the game, but its heart was present in the fourth-quarter at Baylor.

22. Florida. Charlie Weis' offense looked pretty sharp in the Gators' 41-3 demolition of Florida Atlantic. Chris Rainey scored on a rush, a reception, and by scooping up and returning a blocked punt for a touchdown.

23. Houston. Beat UCLA in Houston, 38-34. Hey, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State and Texas and Texas Tech, you think you can hang with UCLA in the Pac-12?

24. Michigan. The 34-10 win over Western Michigan was halted with 1:27 left in the third quarter because of lightning. What's the deal with all the lightning in America over the weekend? I mean, that just isn't right.

25. Oregon. Didn't look too high and mighty against LSU, but it played LSU in Texas. Thank goodness some of these good nonconference matchups still exist.